By Julian Higuera | Reporter
Fun Fact: Texas is so big you can fit the entirety of Earth inside its borders.
A statement like this is one of many introductions that helped social media influencer Oli Pettigrew gain a platform of over 100,000 followers on Instagram alone. Many Texans never knew there was a city named Earth located in Texas.
His brand, @ThatEnglishmaninTexas, has been built on sharing shocking facts about the Lone Star State like the one above.
Even though Pettigrew has an immense amount of knowledge about Texas, he lived in England during his childhood.
After graduating from Southampton Solent University, Pettigrew got a job in the entertainment industry in Singapore. That’s where he met his wife, Linda Pettigrew, a Wacoan abroad. After two kids and multiple years in the industry, they moved to Waco to start a new chapter in Texas.
Pettigrew started his brand almost four years ago, after spending 17 years as a national television host. Pettigrew looked at the changing industry and decided he needed a shift; this is when his social media brand was born.
“I’m just me, I think it makes me accessible,” Pettigrew said. “I walked into the local coffee shop in Lorena, and there were five ladies … It was a church group. One of them immediately clocked me, and she knew everything about me; she watches every video of mine.”
After learning from his wife, Linda Pettigrew — a native Texan — and observing Texan pride after the move, he began to acquire extensive knowledge of the state.
“We’ve been together for over 20 years now, and I realized, I speak fluent Texan, and it’s a massively misunderstood state,” Oli said.
With years of experience behind the camera, he gained a following on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook and even created a website for merchandise. Now Oli has brand partnerships with local businesses such as H-E-B.
While his platform revolves around his knowledge about Texas, according to Linda, it is his genuine attitude that keeps their viewers coming back for more.
“It never surprises me when people approach him in public because he presents himself as so approachable online and in media,” Linda said.
The success of @ThatEnglishmaninTexas has created a spin-off channel for Linda. Viewers know her as @TheMrsThatEnglishman, and originally, she would make small appearances with Oli. Now she posts the daily shenanigans of the Pettigrews, with a focus on couple-centric content.
Previously, Linda worked in fashion and digital media before she met Oli over 20 years ago in Singapore. Now, after two kids and after retiring from her professional career, Linda finds herself working on digital media content as both a side hustle and a pastime.
“I was not looking to move into this,” Linda said. “I think he had probably already been telling me or nudging me in a certain way because we work so synergistically and always have. Whether it be our private life or public life, it just made sense.”
In the past, the couple had been involved in professional entertainment, hosting shows for HBO Asia or modeling for Levi’s. According to Oli, they always had to match the narrative given to them, which is far different from what they do now.
“You have to be 100% authentic, you have to be 100% yourself,” Oli said. “Every television show is still through a certain lens, you’d used a different sort of style or different part of your personality. Whereas ThatEnglishmaninTexas, the only lens is me. It’s me, the product is me.”
